There is now a vast international literature on the human resource practices of multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, empirical studies in the Australian context are limited or at least are not published in the top academic journals. Consequently it is unsurprising that Australian management academics have struggled to make an impact in the field. This paper reviews publications in top tiered journals since 1990 and notes the limited number of empirical studies in respect to the human resource management, employment relations and industrial relations practices of MNEs in Australia. In particular there has been a lack of organisational level studies with the primary focus of existing research on the individual unit of analysis, primarily in the realm of expatriates or repatriates. Further, a noticeable finding is the lack of large-scale survey work, and where studies exist they have suffered from a lack of representativeness, meaning very little is known on even the most basic characteristics of MNEs in Australia.

Relation

Work in Progress: Crises, Choices and Continuity: 24th AIRAANZ Conference (AIRAANZ 2010). Work in Progress: Crises, Choices and Continuity: Proceedings of the 24th Conference Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ 2010) (Sydney 3-5 February, 2010)